King Kutter Farm and Landscape Center

The soil in annual flower beds and vegetable gardens should be prepared in the fall, and mid- to late November is a good time to perform that task.

Deep tillage using a plow, spade or spading fork is preferable to shallow tilling with a roto-tiller, but if a roto-tiller is used, it should be adjusted so that it slowly cultivates deeply without pulverizing the soil.

Turning the soil in the fall has several advantages, including these:

Organic materials such as compost, leaves, aged manure or a bagged amendment can be mixed into the soil and will undergo some decomposition during the winter.

Heavy, tight soil will benefit from freeze/thaw cycles during the winter, improving its workability. Because of the freezing and thawing that soil goes through during the winter, gardeners can get by with working a soil that is a little too wet, something that wouldn't be possible in the spring when working wet soil would result in difficult clods that might persist throughout the growing season.

Surface debris and crop residue will be incorporated, which may reduce carry-over of some insect and disease problems.

Earthworm populations may be protected by the air insulation that develops from surface tillage.

Soil that is fall prepared permits planting earlier in the spring, especially if the early spring weather is wet.